Amon Amarth

Vega, Copenhagen - 2016

Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen

Back in March, the latest epos of the Swedish Viking troupe Amon Amarth was released. The album was called Jomsviking, after the famous Viking mercenaries of the same name, and the subsequent tour was of course called the Jomsviking tour. This tour came to an end on Danish shores, at the battle of Vega in Copenhagen.

“Good evening Denmark! Good evening Copenhagen! It’s always fun to play here, we’re gonna have some fun tonight!”
- Johan Hegg (vocals)


Amon Amarth had had some outstanding support from Behemoth and Grand Magus on this tour, but now it was time for the main fight to commence.
A golden light filled the stage, and the now classical Amon Amarth symphonic intro rang through the hall, as the battlefield became visible to us. At the centre of the stage, a huge Viking helmet stood silent guard, but we lacked the dragons and all the rest of the build-up, which had been seen at other battlegrounds before ours. Most likely it couldn’t all fit, but it was missed nonetheless.
Such thoughts were quickly discarded however, as the band took the stage, and was greeted by a loud war cry from the Danish horde. Amon Amarth responded by throwing us out into The Pursuit Of Vikings. The result was a Maiden’esque sing-along first to the melody of the guitar, and then of course to the famed chorus, and the “hey” chant following the drums. Nothing beats the familiarity of a good old friend like this, and we were off to a good start.

“Welcome to our little Viking party! Are you ready to party tonight?!”
- Hegg (vocals)


After this, Amon Amarth went somewhat of the beaten path, spicing up more than a third of the setlist with brand new material. Now, we’ve seen them do special shows in the past. We’ve seen them play entire records in one go. Four nights in a row, or crying out loud! But those were just that, special shows. Something out of the norm, and announced accordingly. So how were the fans going to react to getting this sort of deal on a regular tour? What were they going to say about Amon Amarth skipping three entire records, and only giving us the tiniest of tastes of others? Amon Amarth took a gamble on this, they apparently wanted to do something differently than their usual run. Well, arguably, the older songs were all the usual run from their respective records, but still. A gamble it was, and a gamble that paid off. The crowd ate it up, and I for one have not seen nor heard any complaints! Not about the setlist.

As I praised Behemoth for in their review, they delivered a show, where there was constantly something going on, always something to hold our interest. On the other hand, their set was a good deal shorter than that of the main act. Still, Amon Amarth did have a few tricks up their sleeve as well. As mentioned above, they couldn’t bring the full scale of their show into this venue, so all pyro was lacking, but they did manage some smoke cannons, first shown in As Loke Falls.
They had something even more interesting than that kept for a little bit later though. The Way Of Vikings was the first time we saw them. The Jomsvikings. The real deal. Well, not the old ones of course, but the current group of men who fight under the legendary banner. You’ve seen them pop up from time to time in the bands videos, and now that Amon Amarth had dedicated an entire album to the tribe, it was only fitting to have them along on the tour as well. At first, we saw two men enter, one with the blue and yellow cross of the Swedish flag, the other with the red and white one of Denmark. They fought hard as the song played, and for a moment, it looked like the Swede had victory in his grasp, having gotten his opponent down on the floor. His glory basking would prove premature however, as he took his focus away from the fight, which opened a window for the Dane to get behind him, and cut his throat. Exactly what moral we should take away from this is uncertain, but it was fun to watch nonetheless.
The Vikings would return for a few more songs, bearing standards or other type of weaponry, but the bout above was their main claim to fame.

“Now, we were in Stockholm yesterday, and Stockholm, like us, are loudmouthed. But every time we come to Copenhagen, you show us who Scandinavia’s real Vikings are!”
- Hegg (vocals)


In themselves, Amon Amarth sadly didn’t show as much a fighting strength. Now now, don’t misunderstand me. They did a perfectly adequate job. They know how to move on this type of battlefield, and they know how to treat their crowd, which they did, they absolutely did. I noticed a fun trick, where Olavi Mikkonen threw a guitar pick to Johan Södergren (which he didn’t catch), and new recruit Joakim Antonio ‘Jocke’ Wallgren, whom we were first introduced to this summer at Copenhell, got a moment of glory with a drum solo (short, yet oh so dull) leading into Cry Of The Black Birds. Hegg himself raised a huge horn (no pun intended) or the crowd tribute Raise Your Horns, and then he whipped out his oversized hammer (still no pun intended) for Twilight Of The Thunder God (compensating or something?). Hell, Loki himself made an appearance in Father Of The Wolf!
But there was nothing more than that. A few gimmicks. If they had run out of steam, this being the final show and all, I can only speculate upon, but the truth of the matter is, that just as with the aforementioned show from Behemoth, this was a battle run entirely on routine.

The same can certainly not be said about the crowd however! Even for the support and guest bands, the Copenhagen crowd was going wild, and as we reached the main event, the people in the sold-out hall were nearing berserker intensity! From front to back, all across the balcony, it was absolutely wild! People were shouting and screaming along to the songs, Deceiver Of The Gods got another goosebump inducing Maiden’esque sing-along to the guitar melody, and quite a few raised their own horns (oh, come on!) for Raise Your Horns.
There had been a bit of crowdsurfing during Behemoth’s show, and this activity increased tenfold or more now. And you just know that moshing and good old headbanging played a huge part in the tactics of the battle ballet, not to mention the deafening warcry in Death In Fire.

“Thanks so fucking much Denmark! Thanks so fucking much Copenhagen! What a great fucking way to end the tour!”
- Hegg (vocals)


So, at the end of the war, what were we left with?
We were left with a band that certainly could take a Valkyrie flight home, because the crowd had absolutely destroyed them! Amon Amarth, and their brothers in arms, did good, but it was the Copenhagen audience that walked away victorious in its superiority and strength.
It was one hell of a show, an entertaining one, and I’m glad I came to witness it all. And if you missed it, don’t worry. I’m sure this Swedish band of warriors will be back again before long.

Setlist:

The Pursuit Of Vikings
As Loke Falls
First Kill
The Way Of Vikings
At Dawn’s First Light
Solo (Wallgren)
Cry Of The Black Birds
Deceiver Of The Gods
On A Sea Of Blood
Destroyer Of The Universe
Death In Fire
One Thousand Burning Arrows
Father Of The Wolf
Runes To My Memory
War Of The Gods
Raise Your Horns
Guardians Of Asgaard
Twilight Of The Thunder God

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